Alisa Walsh Shares Her IMEX North America Highlights

Alisa Walsh with Jackie Ash, Teresa Karcher and Briana Anderson.

Alisa: "In a world of global connectivity via technology IMEX shows us every year that Face-2-Face meetings still matter - and that they make all the difference in the world."
We are happy to share Alisa's impressions of IMEX America 2019 from Las Vegas, NV.

Alisa: "IMEX is still the most anticipated trade show of the year as it is truly the best opportunity to see every single person in our industry under one enormous roof. 

I started off early, attending the SITE Young Leaders Conference for two days prior to the kickoff of IMEX. As the incoming 2020 president of the SITE Southern California Chapter the education opportunity was incredibly important to me. The conference was also a great chance to connect with the global board. We wrapped up the conference with the very fun, networking-on-steroids SITE Nite on Monday, September 9th as part of the IMEX events.

IMEX North America took place earlier than usual this year, right after Labor Day instead of in October. We all jumped right into the maelstrom of mad activity after the more laid back weeks of summer. During the trade show I went from appointment to meeting to seminar to event from 10am to midnight. I am glad I arrived with a lot of energy. Trust me, I needed it. It was an incredible week working and meeting with our amazing partners. I am always happy to get quality time with them."

SITE Nite with past, present and future SITE Southern California Chapter Presidents: Mandy Brown, Brian Griffith and EW's future SITE president Alisa Walsh.

The HIGHLIGHTS:

Alisa: "This is the biggest global event for event planners so you really get to experience the best of the best in the unique setting of Las Vegas.

I was very inspired by some of the brand activations.

Hilton Hotels built a very large LED waterfall in the middle of their booth and handed out engraved water bottles. 

I very much love to see the growth and transformation of some of our partners. Three years ago I met the team from Top Golf as we discussed a possible business opportunity. They were new in the industry and had a very basic booth. This year Top Golf had a fully built out 2-story activation booth, witness to their fast growing business thanks to trade shows like IMEX. I felt really proud because we kind of "grew up" together in the industry as I started with EW at the beginning of that year."

The BEST:

EW has many international clients and partners and we usually communicate via email and conference calls over many time zones. At IMEX we had a chance to meet in person. We got to know each other better. We got more business and relationship building done over one lunch than over weeks of electronic communication. Real personal meetings cannot be replaced by telecommunications. 

Thank you for reading and I look forward to spending quality time with all of you again soon.

Alisa